Bible Strands
Leviticus 19:28
You must not make any cuts in your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses the congregation of Israel within the holiness code of Leviticus 19, between a rule on hair and beard (v. 27) and a rule on sexual purity (v. 29).
The words — כְּתֹבֶת קַעֲקַע (khe.Toet ka.'a.Ka') literally "inscription of incision" is the compound rendered "tattoo marks"; נֶפֶשׁ (Ne.fesh) here means "a corpse," not merely "a soul."
The thread — Deuteronomy 14:1 restates the prohibition on cutting for the dead; Leviticus 21:5 extends it to priests; 1 Kings 18:28 depicts the practice in action among Baal's prophets.
Why it lands — The verse binds two acts—mourning cuts and tattooing—to the single claim "I am the LORD," asking the reader to treat the body as not a surface for foreign grief rituals or identity marks that compete with that claim.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 14:1 You are sons of the LORD your God; do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads on behalf of the dead,
- 1 Kings 18:28 So they shouted louder and cut themselves with knives and lances, as was their custom, until the blood gushed over them.
- Leviticus 21:5 Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies.
- Leviticus 21:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people,
- Jeremiah 16:6 “Both great and small will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned, nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them.
- Jeremiah 48:37 For every head is shaved and every beard is clipped; on every hand is a gash, and around every waist is sackcloth.
- Mark 5:5 Night and day in the tombs and in the mountains he kept crying out and cutting himself with stones.
- Revelation 13:16 And the second beast required all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead,
- Revelation 20:4 Then I saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
- Revelation 15:2 And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, beside which stood those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name. They were holding harps from God,